Shinto - Way of God

The word Shinto came from China, which means the way of God (or kami).

Shinto is the native religion of Japan. It is a polytheistic religion, and involves the worship of kami, or spirits. Shinto's kami are collectively called yaoyorozu no kami, which literally means "eight million kami."

Shinto is an animistic belief system, and it is believed that some kami reside in objects like rocks, trees, or mountains. Ancient Japanese people intuitively found such places or objects which had emitted sacred energy, and worshiped them by building shrines.

In shinto, various kinds of prayer rituals are emphasized for healing the sick people or other purification purposes.

Shinto: The Indigenous Religion of Japan
Shinto (also Shintoism) is the term for the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of Japan. Shinto has no founder, no official sacred scriptures, and no...

Shinto Dieties: Kami
Kami are the central objects of worship for the Shinto faith. Shinto began as the various ancient animistic traditional spirituality of Japan, and only became an institutionalized spirituality...

Amaterasu - The Japanese Sun Goddess
Amaterasu (天照 ), Amaterasu-ōmikami (天照大神／天照大御神 ) or Ōhiru-menomuchi-no-kami (大日孁貴神 ) is, in Japanese mythology, a sun goddess and perhaps the most important Shinto deity (神...

The Yengishiki or Shinto Rituals
Shinto rituals and celebrations stress harmony between deities, man, and nature -- a key feature of Japanese religious life and art to the present time.
Reflecting the...

NIHONGI - THE LATER RULERS
Book XXVI
THE EMPRESS AME-TOYO-TAKARA IKASHI-HI TARASHI-HIME
The Empress Ame-toyo-takara ikashi-hi tarashi-hime [later known as Saimei Tenno] first married the Emperor Tachibana no toyohi's grandson, Prince Takamuku,...